Newsroom

Our Stories

St. Michael's researchers recognized as Transformational Canadians

Two pioneering global health researchers with St. Michael’s Hospital have been named to the first-ever list of 25 Transformational Canadians.

Toronto, December 15, 2010

Dr. Prabhat Jha

The national program set out to find Canadians who immeasurably improved the lives of others in six fields: business, science and technology, the environment, education, health care, and the community.

Prabhat Jha is the founding director of the Centre for Global Health Research at St. Michael’s and was recently appointed inaugural Chair in Disease Control at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Jha is the principal investigator of the Million Death Study in India, studying more than one million deaths in India. This enormous epidemiological project has already had a significant impact on global public health practice.

Jha is the lead author of Curbing the Epidemic: Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control and co-editor of Tobacco Control in Developing Countries. These two influential books were central to the first ever global treaty on tobacco control, now signed by over 150 countries. His work also led to Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg investing several hundred million dollars in global tobacco control.

Dr. James Orbinski

James Orbinski is a Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and was recently named the inaugural Chair in Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. He served as the international president of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) - Doctors without Borders - from 1998 to 2001 and launched its global Access to Essential Medicines Campaign in 1999, the year he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to MSF for its pioneering approach to medical humanitarianism.

Orbinski is the founder of Dignitas International, an organization focused on community-based care, prevention and treatment for people living with HIV in the developing world. He was a founding board member of the Global Alliance for Tuberculosis Drug Development, an advisory board member of Engineers Without Borders, a founding board member of the Steven Lewis Foundation, chair of the board of War Child Canada and a board member of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has been awarded numerous honorary degrees. In 2008, he received the Amnesty International Gold Medal award.